Conventional food waste disposers produce noise during operation. FIGS. 1 and 2 depict a typical food waste disposer 10. The disposer 10 includes an upper food conveying section 12, a lower motor section 14, and a central grinding section 16 disposed between the food conveying section 12 and the motor section 14. The food conveying section 12 includes a housing 18 that forms an inlet 20 at its upper end for receiving food waste. The disposer 10 also has a dishwasher inlet 19 to receive wastewater from a disposer. Wastewater is injected into the grinding section 16 during various cycles of the dishwasher and is independent of the operation of the disposer.
The food conveying section 12 conveys the food waste to the central grinding section 16. The motor section 14 includes an induction motor 22 imparting rotational movement to a motor shaft 24. The motor 22 is enclosed within a motor housing 26. The grinding section 16 includes a grinding mechanism having a circular plate 34, a pair of lugs 36, and a stationary shredder ring 38. The plate 34 is mounted to the motor shaft 24 of the motor section 14. The lugs 36 are fastened to the plate 34 but are free to rotate relative to the rotating plate 34. The shredder ring 38 has a plurality of teeth 40.
The inlet 20 of the housing 18 is attached to a drain opening 42 of a sink 44 by a connecting apparatus 46. Although different mechanisms exist, one type of connecting apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,007.
In the operation of the food waste disposer 10, the food waste is passed through the drain opening 42, through the food conveying section 12, and to the grinding section 16. The food waste delivered to the grinding section 12 is forced by lugs 36 on the rotating plate 34 against teeth 40 of the shredder ring 38. The edges of the teeth 40 grind or comminute the food waste into particular matter sufficiently small to pass from above the grinding plate 34 to below the grinding plate 34 via gaps between the teeth 40 outside the periphery of the plate 34. Due to gravity, the particulate matter passes through the gaps between the teeth 40 drops onto an upper end frame 48 and, along with water injected into the disposer 10 via the drain opening 42, is discharged through a discharge outlet 50 into a tailpipe 52.
A significant amount of external noise may be generated by conventional disposers. This is due, in part, by the operation of the induction motor as well as the rotation and movement of the metal plate and swivel lugs. Noise is also generated by food particles that are forced against the shredder ring by the rotating plate and lugs. To reduce noise, it has been known to place an insulating cover around the exterior housings of conventional disposers. An exterior cover, however, does not prevent noise from dissipating up through the drain opening. Accordingly, there is a need to reduce the amount of noise generated through the drain opening.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.